Unexpected Changes
by Emerald Puppy
Summary: In the midst of planning a talent show act, tragedy strikes. Something very unexpected happens. Can Kira cope with all the changes? Pairings: KiraRei, HiromiTatsuya. Please R&R. First fic, no flames please!
1. The Talent Show Rehearsal

Chapter one: The Talent Show Rehearsal

Kira usually got up at 6:30 to get to school early so she could draw and sketch. But today she had to get to school early to rehearse for the talent show with Rei, Tatsuya and Hiromi.

They would all be singing and Hiromi and Kira would be playing the piano. All four of them were in choir and both Hiromi and Kira had a magical touch when they played the piano.

Kira quickly got ready for school and ran down the stairs.

"Mom, I have to get to school early for the talent show rehearsal with Rei and the others," Kira said in one breath.

"Oh, okay honey would you like me to put your French toast, scrambled eggs and bacon into a container for you so you can eat it on your way there?"

"Thanks mom, that would be great," Kira said while putting her jacket on. 

Before Kira rushed out the door, her mom gave her a container that contained her breakfast.

"Bye mom, see you later," Kira said.

Kira ran all the way to school. By the time she got there Rei, Tatsuya, Hiromi and Mr. Taniwa were all waiting for her.

"Sorry I'm late guys, I went to bed late yesterday," she said apologetically.

"Okay guys, hop up on the stage and show me what you've got."

"Hiromi your piano's on the right, Kira your piano's on the left and your microphone is attached to the piano."

"Rei and Tatsuya choose who gets to go where and then test the microphone," he said rather quickly.

Kira and Hiromi warmed up on the pianos while Rei and Tatsuya tested the microphones.

"Is everybody ready?" Mr. Taniwa asked.

"Yes Sir, may we begin?" asked Hiromi.

"You most certainly may," he responded.

Rei started them off "Okay, 3, 2, 1, hit it."

Hiromi and Kira began playing the piano as an introduction. Eight bars later, Rei and Kira started singing, then 4 bars later they were all singing.

When they finished their song, Mr. Taniwa was clapping.

"That was definitely the best so far," he exclaimed.

"So are we in?" Tatsuya asked.

"Didn't you just hear him? He just said that we were the best. Maybe you need to clean your ears, there's probably a bunch of earwax piled up preventing you from hearing," Rei said in a teasing tone.

"Oh come on Rei, give the poor guy a break," Hiromi said.

"Yeah," Kira agreed.

"Oh come on he was just having a little fun," Tatsuya said defending his best friend.

"By the way Rei, I just cleaned my ears today," he said.

"Okay that means you must be going deaf," Rei responded, still teasing him.

Everybody burst into giggles.

"Okay you four, that's enough. Go get ready for your first class," Mr. Taniwa said, kicking them out.

"Come on guys, before Taniwa blows up on us and ends up in Taiwan," Rei said, which made them laugh even harder.

So off they went, headed off to Mrs. Hugurashi's classroom.

Rei looked through the window on the classroom door and saw that there was a supply teacher.

"Dudes, there's a supply today. I'm outta here," Rei explained. 

"Rei, you promised not to cut school anymore…please don't," Kira begged.

"Oh, all right. But that's only because you're the one asking," he said and gave her a quick kiss on the nose.

Tatsuya looked down at his watch.

"Oh, crap you guys the bells gonna ring in 2 minutes," Tatsuya warned them.

They all ran towards their lockers and quickly unlocked them. They grabbed their stuff and ran back to class.

They all jumped into their seats one after another, Rei was the last one and made it in just seconds before the teacher walked in.

"Good morning class, my name is Mrs. Yuri. Unfortunately Miss Higurashi is unable to attend this lesson so I will be filling in for her," she explained.

"Everybody get out your math books and turn to page 346…please," Mrs. Yuri demanded.

Everyone immediately did as they were told accept for Rei of course. But the teacher was too dimwitted too notice. (A/N: I always thought supplies were dunce, so here's my proof).

So eventually, Rei got bored and fell asleep.

The bell rang and the class was dismissed.

"Yo, Rei what do you think you're doing falling asleep in class?" Tatsuya asked.

"Oh, don't worry Tatsuya, she didn't even notice, at least I don't think she did, did she?" he said completely lost.

"Ugh! Rei you have to stop falling asleep as boring as it is you still have to pay attention or you'll be held back a year," Tatsuya said, getting worried.

"Yeah Rei, Tatsuya's right you can't keep falling asleep in class like that…it's too risky," Hiromi agreed.

They all headed over to their next class. For the rest of the day Rei tried his best not to fall asleep. It was difficult for him, but he managed.

The school bell rang and it was time to go home. The four of them met at the front door. They went to go get slushies and sushi.

"Tatsuya don't worry about it. I'll pay," Rei said, pulling out his wallet from his back pocket.

"Fine," he replied.

"Let's head over to the park," suggested Hiromi.

"Anyone want to have a race to the park?" Rei asked, grinning.

"Sure…" Tatsuya began.

But Rei was already running.

"Hey that's not fair, oh well," Tatsuya raced after Rei.

By the time Kira and Hiromi got there, Rei, had fallen asleep and Tatsuya was waiting very patiently.

Kira walked over to Rei and screamed in his ear.

"Wow! Was that Kira, is she okay, where is she?" he said. Than he looked up, "Oh," he said, embarrassed.

"Oh god I have to get home, my step dad expected me back as soon as possible," Kira exclaimed.

"Okay I think I should be getting home soon too," Hiromi agreed.

So they all went home, Kira hopped on Rei's motorcycle and Hiromi hopped on Tatsuya's bike.

They said goodbye, then left.

When Rei dropped Kira off at her house and he gave her a quick kiss before leaving.

Kira unlocked the front door and walked in at first she expected her step dad to blow up on her, but he didn't.

"Hey Kira what took so long, I thought I told you to get home as fast as you could?" he asked.

"You did Daddy I just went to grab a snack with some of my friends," she replied.

"Okay Kira I'll be right back," he said.

When he came back he was holding a pencil, a pad of paper and a belt. 

"Write down your friends phone numbers. Every 10 seconds you waste, you'll get hit with my belt," he explained.

Kira quickly wrote down Rei's number, Hiromi's number, but she couldn't remember Tatsuya's.

Her step dad was counting, "1, 2, 3, 4, 5…"

Kira ran towards her fridge where the list of phone numbers were. She jotted down his number and then ran back to her step dad.


	2. The Letter

Okay, here's the next chapter of Unexpected Changes. Hope you like it. Enjoy!

Chapter 2: The Letter

Rei went home and saw the mailman walking down his driveway. As the man passed him he said, " Hey you have a letter from some Motorcycle thing."

"Really?" Rei asked his eyes wide with surprise.

"Yah," he replied.

Rei raced towards his mailbox and opened it up.

A letter came sliding out, it was addressed to him, he ripped it open and read it, it said:

Dear Mr. Rei Kashino,  
I would like to congratulate you on all of your wins on the racetrack. 

I am proud to say that you have been accepted to compete in this year's biggest race on June 21st.  
Please R.S.V.P. A.S.A.P.

With all do respect,  
Mr. M. Hanasaki

"Oh crap that's the same day that we're having the talent show," Rei remembered.

"I better tell the others and see what they say," Rei said to himself. 

The next day he went to school and met up with the gang.

"Hey guys," he said running to catch up with them.

They stopped to wait for him.

"What's up," Hiromi asked.

"Oh nothing, just that got accepted to compete in this years biggest race!" he replied giving them the great news.

"Really," Kira said her eyes wide with surprise.

"Yeah but it's on the day of the talent show," he muttered.

"Oh," Kira said.

Rei saw everyone's face fall the moment he said that, especially Kira's.

There was a long pause of dead silence before anyone said anything else. 

"That's great," Kira said forcing herself to smile.

"Yeah," Hiromi and Tatsuya agreed in unison.

"Sssooo, are you gonna stay here or go to the race?" Hiromi asked after the other two had left.

"I dunno, Kira just seems so unhappy about it but I want what's best for her," Rei replied.

"Yeah I guess," Hiromi said.

"Anyways we better get going or we're gonna be late for class," Hiromi said changing the subject.

Rei looked down at his watch, "Wow, you're right we have two minutes left."

"We better run."

Rei and Hiromi were late for class by about twenty seconds. They both had to walk down to the office and get a late slip.

"What's your name?" asked the secretary.

"Hiromi," replied Hiromi.

The secretary didn't need to ask Rei his name because he had been late so many times before she had memorized it.  
"Here you go," she said handing Hiromi her late slip.

At the end of the day, Rei discussed what hi was gonna do with Kira. 

"So Kira am I going or staying?"

"Oh, you're definitely going," she said.

"Are you sure?"

"Of course, I thought it over and came to the conclusion that it's not every day you get a chance to race in the biggest race in a year," she said taking a deep breath before continuing.

" But you can always go and perform with us on the street or somewhere else," she said with a smile.

"Yeah I guess you're right, okay I've got to get home and start packing," said Rei, then he took off.

"Hey guys do you want to go over to the mall for a little while?" asked Tatsuya.

"Oh I would if I could but I can't," Hiromi said. (Say it really fast, it sounds cool, it's my line I always use it!J)

""What about you Kira?"

"Um… I wish I could but my stepfather wants me to help him with something," she replied.

"Oh okay, I guess I'll go home too," he said then took off.

Kira walked a little bit then ran the rest of the way home not wanting to get her father mad.

When she got back home her stepfather had left a note on the fridge. It read:

Kira,   
On the bak of this paper ther our a list of chors to do beefore I get hom.

Kira knew her stepfather couldn't spell very well. She flipped the paper over and saw a list of things (with a bunch of spelling mistakes in it) that she had to do.

Kira sighed.

The next morning Kira woke up with her mother standing on top of her. 

"Kira honey, it's time for you to wake up!" she said joyfully.

"Rei left a message on the answering machine saying that he had to leave earlier than he had expected and couldn't swing by before his flight to say goodbye," she said

"Oh," the word had come out of Kira's mouth before she could stop herself and she couldn't stop the disappointment that she felt from showing.

"Well honey, you better get out of bed before you're late for school," her mom said changing the subject.  
"K, in a sec," she replied.

Kira quickly got up and made her bed. She went over to her dresser and looked into the mirror.

"Oh my god I look like a total mess," she thought.

Kira picked up her brush and brushed out her hair.

She hurried into the bathroom and washed up.

Kira rushed downstairs and toasted a piece of bread, buttered it then quickly munched it down.

She ran to the front door grabbed her knapsack, slid on her shoes, put on her jacket and ran out.

Kira ran all the way to school and got there 6 minutes before the bell rang.

She snuck up behind Tatsuya and Hiromi and said… "Boo!"

"Holy macro, you scared the crap out of me," said Tatsuya.

The two girls started giggling. Then immediately stopped when they heard the bell rang.

"Oh my god! We're gonna be late for class!" exclaimed Hiromi.

"You guys suck! You're so gonna be busted!" said Kira

"So are you so I wouldn't be talking!" Hiromi said while running.  
"No I'm not," Kira argued.

"The art club is having a meeting this morning during first period," she finished.

"Oh man! I am so gonna kill you," shouted Hiromi.

Running as fast as they could, they both made it just in time for class. 

Kira slowly and calmly made her way to the art room.

There was an empty seat beside someone she didn't recognize. So she took it and sat down.

Today they were talking about pastels and how the smudging can make the pastels into a beautiful piece of art.

Kira's mind wasn't focusing on the art meeting, it was slipping away and thinking about Rei.

When the meeting was over it was almost lunchtime. Kira headed over to the cafeteria wondering what she should eat this time.

She walked up to the kind and familiar face of the food lady.

"I think I'll have a bowl of salad, a bottle of spring water and roasted potatoes," she decided.

"Why certainly my dear," the lady said with a smile.

Kira paid for the food and took her platter over to the corner table where Hiromi and Tatsuya were waiting for her.  
"So how did the meeting go?" Tatsuya asked.

"Not bad, pretty boring though," she admitted.

"Were you guys late for class?" she asked.

"Sadly, yes," Hiromi said.

"Awww, well that's too bad," she replied.

Kira continued to crunch on her salad like a little guinea pig. Soon after they were done their lunch.

"K, well I'll see you next period," Kira said.

"Yup!" they replied in unison.

Kira strolled over to room 210. She walked in and found her science teacher sitting there.

"Good afternoon Mrs. Kahuna," Kira greeted her kindly.

"Well hello Kira, I didn't see you come in," Mrs. Kahuna said. 

"You're certainly here early," she said.

"Yes, actually I was wondering if I could ask you a question?" said Kira. 

"Why of course!" she said.

"I've noticed that my grades are slipping a bit, do you mind telling me why?" she asked.  
"Well you see, I've noticed that you're not as focused as you used to be. Is anything the matter Kira?"

"It's about Rei, Rei Kashino."

"We're sort of an item, but he went away for a motorcycle race and I'm really worried about him.

"I don't want him to get hurt."

"I understand how you feel, the same thing happened to my husband and me except he did inline skating instead of motorcycling," she said sympathetically.

"Thanks Mrs. Kahuna, it was really nice of you to be so concerned," she said.

0-0-0

To the very nice people who reviewed my first chapter!

_Loftywater:_ Yeah, he is cruel. I hope you liked this chapter. Thanks for the review!

_Saaya…:_ Thanks for the tips! I hope you liked this chapter. And good luck with becoming a teacher.

_Asha: _Thank you so much! Hope you enjoyed this chapter.

_Raafia: _Thank you for reading my story and reviewing! See you next year.

_AzNkId: _Thanks for the tips! And thanks for reading and reviewing!

_Pretty Princess: _Thank you very much! I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I don't think I'll be writing any more stories…but, thank you very much for the compliment!

_Preity----WOOT WOOT...: _Thank you! Don't worry, I updated, unlike some people I know too…(my sister)

_Radz560: _Thankies for reading and reviewing the story! I'M NOT KAWAII! Hope you liked this chappie! Oh, and, ding-dong!


	3. The Accident

Chapter 3: The Accident

Kira was in her room reading a book about science and technology, when the phone rang.

"Hello?" she said picking up the receiver.

"Hi may I please speak to Kira?" the man asked.

"Speaking, how may I help you?" said Kira.

"Oh hi, this is Rei Kashino's motorcycle instructor. I'm afraid we have some terrible news for you. During Rei's last race he participated in a terrible accident. Please don't get to upset.

"Oh my!" Kira gasped.

"He is currently in the hospital getting immediate medical attention."

"Is he gonna be alright?" Kira asked.

"Well that depends," he said.

"You mean he could d…?"Kira said in between sobs.

"Ummm… yes."

"O.M.G!"

"How serious is his condition?" she questioned.

"I'm not quite sure, you're gonna have to ask the doctor when you get to the hospital."

"What do you mean?" Kira asked.

"Well we've decided that Rei needs someone to be there for him and the closest person to him… is you!" he explained.

"Really?" she said totally shocked.

"What about his family?" Kira asked.

"Most of Rei's relatives don't live near him, or in his father's case they hate him."

"Oh…"

"I'm gonna have to ask my parents first," she said.

Silently doubting her stepfather would let her go in less she talked to the both of them at the same time.

"Can you leave me with a phone number I can reach you with?" Kira asked.

"That way I can call you back when I've made my decision."

"Sure! (905) 642-1357," he said.

"Thanks! I'll call you back as soon as possible," Kira said trying to hide the disappointment in her voice.

"Bye," they both said in unison.

Then the receiver clicked and there was no sound but the dial tone.

Kira put the phone back on the charger and headed downstairs to have a chat with her parents.

Her mom wasn't home yet, but she figured she could wait just a little while longer.

She went to the kitchen to see if she could grab a bite before dinner. Her stepfather was sitting at the kitchen table reading that days newspaper.

"Ummmm…………hey!" Kira said, wondering weather she should bring up the subject of her going to see Rei.

Her stepfather continued to read the paper, his dark, cold brown eyes not even looking up.

Kira decided to wait till her mother came back home and tell both of them together like she had planed to in the first place.

She silently poured herself a small bowl of cereal and sat down across from her stepfather.

A few minutes later, while Kira was munching away on her cereal, her mom came in.

"Hey guys, how's it going? Everything all right?" her mother asked.

"Everything is fine Honey," said Kira's stepfather not even bothering to look up at her either.

"Well…mom actually I was wondering if I could talk to the both of you about something really important to me," she said nervously.

"What is it sweetie? Is anything wrong? Are you hurt? Did something happen?" her mom's expression changing to a worried and concerned look.

"No mom, I'm fine," she said, rolling her eyes.

"Oh okay, then what is it?" she asked again.

"Well you know my boyfriend Rei?"

"Yes, the one that left for a motorcycle race right?"

"Yeah, well during one of his races, he got into a serious accident and now he's in the hospital with no one there to look after him."

"So…I just got a phone call asking if I would like to go over there and see him," she finished.

"And where exactly is "over there"?" her mother asked.

"Well it's in America, but we don't have to pay. Rei's instructor said the company that was holding the race would cover for me," she explained to her mother.

"I'm fine with that. As long as your father is okay with it," she said.

"_He's not my father!"_ Kira thought silently.

"Well honey, what do you think?" her mom asked her stepfather.

"It's fine by me if it's fine by you," he said simply.

"So I can go!" Kira said excitedly.

"I guess so," her mother replied.

"Oh, thank you so much mom! I can't tell you how much this means to me. I know Rei really needs someone there for him, and it's all thanks to you that I will!" Kira exclaimed.

"Your welcome honey, just make sure you give me all the details of what's happening, okay?" she asked sternly

"Of course mother," she said with a smile.

"I'd better call back and tell him that a can come," said Kira leaving quickly so they couldn't change their minds.

Kira picked up the receiver and dialed 905- 652-1357.

The phone rang twice and a little girl picked up the phone.

"Hi this is the Hiyashi residence, Emma speaking how may I help you?" the little girl said politely.

"Oh I'm sorry I must have the wrong number," Kira realized.

"Okay, bye!" said Emma.

The receiver clicked and Kira dialed the phone number again, only this time being careful not to make a mistake.

"(905) 642-1357" she muttered under her breath.

This time it rang once and someone picked up.

"Hello?" the man asked.

"Hi it's Kira again."

"Oh, hello, so how did the chat with your parents go?" he asked.

"Well…I talked to them and they said, I can go!" she said sharing the great news with him.

"Fantastic!" he said.

"Now, you're going to have to inform your school that you won't be there for about three weeks," he explained.

"Because if you don't, then they'll be wondering what happened to you," he said.

"Oh okay," she replied.

"When will I be leaving?" Kira asked.

"Tomorrow, at 6:30 am so you better get packing."

"Okay thanks!" she said and hung up.

Humming to herself, Kira grabbed the biggest suitcase she had and began pilling the majority of her clothes in to it.

Two hours later she got her mom to check and make sure she had everything that she would need for her trip.

The next morning, Kira was up nice and early. She was up so early that it was still dark! Getting up from her warm bed she slowly stumbled her way over to the bathroom. Kira turned on the shower and allowed it to warm up.

After about five minutes, she stepped into the shower and finally woke up properly.

Usually it only took Kira about ten minutes to take a shower but today she wanted to make sure she was extra clean for Rei.

Twenty minutes passed and she finally stepped out of the shower.

Kira walked over to her wardrobe, which contained all of her special clothes. She pulled out a pale green, fuzzy sweater and pulled it over top of her head. She slipped on her jeans and walked back into the bathroom.

Kira flipped over allowing her hair to daggle over her head. She picked up the blow dryer and began to dry her hair.

Flipping back over she grabbed a brush and ran it through her silky blond hair. Satisfied with the way her hair looked she picked of a clip and clipped her hair up so that it was out of her face.

She only had half an hour till her cab would be coming to pick her up.

Picking up her luggage she lugged it down the stairs and set it down in the hallway right beside the front entrance. As she dropped the bags she took a deep, refreshing breath. She could smell the scent of her most favourite breakfast: bacon, hash browns, eggs and French toast.

She hurried over to the kitchen sneaking up behind her mother and gave her a huge hug.

"Hello sweetie! Good morning to you too," She said and turned around with a smile.

"Hey Mom!"

"Go sit down at the table and help yourself to whatever you'd like," she demanded generously.

Kira willingly obeyed her mother and took her seat at the kitchen table. She politely waited for her mother to finish cooking the bacon and come sit and eat with her.

It didn't take very long for the both of them to start shoveling their faces with the delicious food.

Very quickly they both got full and when they finished eating they looked up at each other and burst out laughing. With absolutely no idea why, they continued to laugh without a reason. Finally they stopped and calmed themselves down.

"Whoo!" Kira said trying to wipe away the tears of laughter that sprang from her eyes.

When Kira could finally see clearly, she looked down at her watch to see what the time was.

"_Perfect", _she thought. She still had ten minutes till her cab would come to pick her up. _"Just enough time to say bye to mom and double check that I have everything," _she noted. There was a long pause of silence before she spoke.

"Well Mom, I better be getting ready to go," she announced.

"Of course honey, we wouldn't want you to be late now would we."

"Okay, well you know I'm going to miss you," said her mom sadly.

"Me too," Kira said back.

"And you have to promise to right me about all the exciting things in America, plus how Rei is doing," she said.

"I promise, I'll send lot's of postcards and letters.

"Well, okay, I'll talk to you soon honey, I love you."

And with that, Kira gave her mother a huge hug and a peck on the cheek.

"I love you too…Bye!" Kira called out as she walked out the door and stood on the sidewalk.

As her cab pulled up, she turned around to look back at her mom. Giving her a huge smile and a blowing kiss, she waved goodbye before her mom closed the door.

The driver helped Kira put her luggage in the trunk, and then they both went into the car.

Looking back at her house as the cab pulled away, a tear trickled down her cheek. She quickly wiped it away and softly whispered: "Goodbye!"

As the distance grew between her and her home, her house got smaller and smaller. The double red door at the front of her house was the last thing she could possibly make out.

Until she was finally gone…


End file.
